Chapter 4: The Return
It felt like a pleasant dream, the kind he hadn't had in a very long time.
In the dream, he felt warm all over, as comfortable as being bathed in the winter sun.
Sunlight? Did I… get reborn back at home?
Naruto's consciousness slowly began to surface, but his body felt like it wasn't under his control. It was moving constantly, as if it were running.
My body isn't at home, so where am I?
Suddenly, Naruto thought he heard himself speak.
"Kiba, how's it going?"
My voice sounds… anxious, he thought.
"I'm trying to focus on Sasuke's faint scent! Don't talk to me, you'll break my concentration!"
Hm?
That's Kiba's voice. Right, I was just asking Kiba a question. Trying to find Sasuke's scent?
The memories of his soul began to flip open like the pages of a well-worn book. In an instant, his mind locked onto the correct page, the one for this specific point in time.
He had been reborn during the hunt for Sasuke!
At that realization, Naruto's spirit snapped fully awake.
At the exact same moment, the body of the younger Naruto, which had been leaping through the trees, came to an abrupt halt. One second it was airborne, the next it was plummeting toward the ground.
Kakashi, who was right behind him, noticed immediately. "Naruto!" he yelled.
Just before Naruto hit the forest floor, Kakashi caught him, bringing him safely to the ground.
Sakura Haruno, Akamaru, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Yamato all stopped and rushed over, quickly forming a circle around him.
Sakura moved forward, looking at the unconscious Naruto with concern. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Kakashi said. "He was fine one second, and the next he just passed out."
"Let me see."
Having trained in medical ninjutsu under Lady Tsunade, Sakura immediately had Kakashi lay Naruto flat on the ground so she could examine him.
Hinata watched from the side, her face etched with worry, terrified that something was seriously wrong.
Inside the motionless body, the soul of the reborn Naruto was rapidly fusing with his younger self.
Finally, just as Sakura, having finished a few chest compressions, was about to ask Kiba, Yamato, or Kakashi to perform mouth-to-mouth, Naruto's eyes fluttered open.
The first thing he saw was a man's face, eyes squeezed shut, puckered lips descending toward his own.
Naruto let out a hesitant "uhm," and then asked, "...Kiba?"
Hearing his name, Kiba's eyes snapped open, meeting Naruto's gaze directly. He froze in an incredibly awkward moment.
He scrambled to his feet. "Hey! Uh, Naruto! Just so you know, I was about to give you mouth-to-mouth! You fainted, and Sakura told me to! Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato wouldn't do it, so I had no choice, you know..."
Kiba rambled on, the tips of his ears turning bright red.
Naruto sat up and looked down at his own body. Yep, this was his teenage body. At this point in time, he shouldn't even be sixteen yet.
Kakashi smiled down at him. "It's good that you're okay. You really scared me—hm? Naruto, what's wrong?"
Naruto suddenly threw his arms around his former teacher, tears streaming down his face. During the war with the Otsutsuki, Kakashi-sensei had died right in front of him, shielding him from an attack. To see him again now… the emotion was overwhelming.
"Waaah, Kakashi-sensei! It's so good to see you!"
Kakashi was completely baffled. Though he had no idea what was going on, he patted Naruto on the back. "Alright, alright, I know you look up to me, but if we don't get going, we're going to lose Sasuke's trail again."
Naruto immediately let go. Right. For the me of this time, finding Sasuke is the most important thing.
Sakura, seeing that Naruto was fine, balled up her fist in annoyance. "You idiot! Get up! You scared me half to death, just fainting like that!"
Her examination had shown that nothing was physically wrong with him, so she had decided to run through the standard emergency procedures: chest compressions, then mouth-to-mouth. There was no way she was doing the artificial respiration; it was way too embarrassing. Kakashi and Yamato had refused too, which only left Kiba.
Luckily, Naruto had woken up just in time.
Getting to his feet, Naruto beamed with pure joy. "Sakura-chan!" he shouted, his voice filled with a warmth that felt like it had been held back for years.
He then turned, greeting each of his friends with unrestrained happiness. "Yo! Shino! Haha, Captain Yamato! Hey, hey! Kiba, what are you muttering about over there? And Akamaru, you're a good boy." He reached out and scratched the ninja hound behind the ears.
Naruto greeted every single one of them with an excitement that made it seem like he hadn't seen them in ages.
Sakura sidled up to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei," she whispered worriedly, "are you sure you caught him before he hit the ground? I think he might have scrambled his brains."
Kakashi scratched the back of his head, a troubled smile on his face. "I'm… I'm pretty sure I caught him."
Just as Sakura was seriously considering the possibility of brain damage, Naruto walked over to Hinata.
Hinata looked at him with concern, her voice soft and timid. "Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you're alri—"
Before she could finish, Naruto wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her.
He held her tightly, and the kiss was deep and full of longing.
Hinata's eyes flew open in shock, the world around her seeming to melt away into unreality. Then she saw it: a single, hot tear rolling down from Naruto's closed eye.
Ah!
Something struck Hinata's heart, and slowly, she closed her eyes as well.
The onlookers were completely frozen.
Yamato, Shino, and Kiba's jaws were on the floor, their eyes wide as saucers. Even Akamaru and Kakashi's summoned ninja hounds were stunned into silence.
A muscle in Kakashi's cheek twitched. Unable to believe what he was seeing, he muttered, "Now I'm really not sure I caught him. I think… he really might have broken his brain."
Sakura's face first flushed red, then her fists clenched, her temper flaring.
That jerk!
Naruto's always been in love with me! What the hell is he doing, pulling a stunt like this right in front of me?!
She stomped forward, swinging a powerful punch. "You pervert! Let go of Hinata!" she roared.
BAM!
To the absolute shock of everyone present, Sakura's punch was stopped dead in its tracks.
Naruto, still holding a blushing Hinata with one arm, had effortlessly caught Sakura's fist with his other hand. He looked at her, his expression apologetic but firm. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. I can't let you hit me anymore."
And Hinata, still held in Naruto's embrace, buried her bright red face in his chest, her small hands nervously fiddling together.